DZBS BaguioItogon folks received livelihood assistance from DSWD

105 individuals displaced due to the onslaught of TY Ompong and the banning of small scale mining in Itogon, Benguet.received 2.1M worth of livelihood assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development-C0rdillera

This livelihood assistance is a Php 20,000.00 worth of Seed Capital Fund (SCF) grant in support to the initiative of providing start-up capital for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for the establishment or rehabilitation of their livelihoods.

The IDPs were identified based on the assessments done on 22 September until 5 November 2018

.The IDPs identified and prepared their own project proposals based from their needs, IPDOs then reviewed the feasibility of the selected livelihood and recommended it for approval.

Before releasing the assistance, a Basic Livelihood Training (BLT) was conducted by the Implementing Project Development Office (IPDO) wherein she discussed Basic Bookkeeping and Financial Literacy.

“This is our way of helping, to provide them assistance and entrepreneurial skills which they can develop in order to manage their livelihood to be successful and for them to start a new life after the disaster”, OIC-Regional Director Janet Armas said.

From their proposals, most of these 105 IDPs from Ucab, Tuding, Poblacion and Ampucao are venturing into sari-sari store, hog raising, soft-broom making, and poultry.

“Isu iti inpropose ko a livelihood ta isu met ti ammuk ken nalaka a pagrugyan a negosyo, tadta nga awanen iti makipurdiyaan a mina isimpak atoy naited a pagbaboy-an ta isu kitdi iti padakelek a negosyo ta isunto pagbiyagan a pagalaan iti pangpaskwelak kadagiti anak ko (I proposed this kind of livelihood because I am knowledgeable of it and it is easy to manage. Now that there is a ban on mining, that is our only source of income then I will make sure that this piggery will prosper as our source of income and for my children’s education)”, said IDP Benjoe Binwag.

After receiving their checks, these IDPs are given 2 weeks to purchase their materials and implement their projects with the guidance of the IPDO. After three months, the Monitoring IPDO with the Local Government Unit (LGU) will start monitoring the projects.

Livelihood assistance for the succeeding batches will be released before the year-ends.